1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a roof which can be folded into the trunk of a convertible vehicle and which optimizes the volume available in the trunk when the roof is folded and enables the rear seat bulkhead to be positioned as far as possible toward the rear to provide more room for the rear seats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional opening roof, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the roof parts 1 and 2 are folded rearward by a parallelogram system comprising a hinge 3 attached to the bodyshell, a hinge 4 attached to the two roof parts and a rod 5 hinged to the bodyshell at 6 and to the front roof part at 7.
When the two roof parts 1, 2 have been folded into the trunk, after opening the trunk lid 8 in the direction of the arrow H, the opposite curvatures of the two roof parts result in a very large gap C, reducing commensurately the height B of the trunk and the entrance A of the trunk relative to the rear-facing panel 9.
Another disadvantage is that to optimize the dimension B the roof part 2 must be as horizontal as possible, which implies a rear seat bulkhead that is very far forward, limiting the space available for the rear seats.
An aim of the present invention is to remedy the above drawbacks
The invention is therefore directed to a folding roof for convertible vehicles, comprising a front roof part hinged to a rear roof part whose rear end is hinged to the vehicle, the roof parts being adapted to be stowed in the trunk of the vehicle with the front roof part folded over the rear roof part connected to its hinge to the vehicle, wherein the rear roof part includes a central roof part extending as far as the hinge between the front and rear roof parts and the central roof part is hinged to the rear roof part and cooperates with means which, in the stowed position in the trunk, hold the central roof part at a distance above the rear roof part.
Positioning the central roof part above the rear roof part frees up an opening in the central roof part of the rear roof part which increases the available height in the trunk.
In an advantageous version of the invention the front roof part is hinged to the end of a rod whose other end is hinged to the vehicle and the rod is adapted to hold the front roof part in a substantially horizontal position when the rear roof part pivots toward the trunk about its hinge.
The central roof part is preferably connected and hinged to the rear roof part.
An arm emanating from the central roof part is connected to a rod one end of which is hinged to the arm and the other end of which is hinged to the bodyshell of the vehicle.
This type of mechanism enables the central roof part to pivot in the opposite direction to the rear roof part and achieves the exact required position when that roof part is folded into the trunk by virtue of a specific position of the hinges.
The central roof part can be the rear window of the roof. Other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the following description, which is given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of nonlimiting example only.